Homeschool Showcase: Wax Museum

The Wax Museum is my favorite Showcase that we do each year. I love seeing what the kids come up with and the different ways they choose to present. It's fun.

This year, Lincoln, Ivan and Adelia decided to go as Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea. (They may or may not have been highly encouraged by me to do something that went together, so we only had to squeeze in the time to learn about 1 subject matter and make 1 poster, instead of 3. It just makes life that much easier to have them doing the same thing right now, judge if you must.)

 The kids and I read these two books from my new favorite series, in preparation for the Wax Museum. We also listened to a Jim Weiss CD titled "Gone West" which talks about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. We also read a few different picture books that we found at the library.

I think the kids' favorite part was coming up with costumes. I admit I ordered Adelia's off of Amazon. But every needs a Native American costume in their collection, right? I'm sure we'll get our money's worth out of it. To go with her costume, Del wanted to wear her sparkly pink boots...very authentic, I'm sure. She was also delighted that Aaron came up with a way to use an infinity scarf as a carrier for Rapunzel, so that Rapunzel could be Pompy and ride on Adelia's back. Lincoln and Ivan both found hats in the dress-up box that they liked. Lincoln decided to wear his church vest with it, and Ivan opted for some suspenders fashioned from a pirate belt. And we drew on some sideburns using an eyeliner pencil. So cute, all of them!

Lincoln was Lewis, and wanted to focus on the journals that were kept along the way. His speaking part:

"My name is Meriwether Lewis. I was a secretary to Thomas Jefferson when he made the Louisiana Purchase. President Jefferson sent me and my friend William Clark to explore the new land, look for a water way across it, and claim Oregon Territory for the United States.  On our journey we found many plants and animals and things we’d never seen before. The groundhog is one example. We kept detailed notebooks of our trip that included many drawings."

Ivan was Clark, and he wanted to tell about meeting Grizzly Bears. His part:

"My name is William Clark. My friend Lewis invited me to be a co-captain on the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the new land bought in the Louisiana Purchase. On our way we found many plants and animals. Once of the most dangerous animals we came across were Grizzly Bears. Once when we were hunting we saw a Grizzly Bear and we tried to kill it while it was asleep, but the first round of shots didn’t work. The bear came after us, and it was angry! We reloaded and fired some more shots. This time we killed the bear, and used it’s meat for food."

Obviously, Adelia was Sacagawea. She wanted her part to be short, and to talk about carrying her baby on her back. :) Her part:

"My name is Sacagawea. I was as a guide for Lewis and Clark. I carried my baby on my back all the way across the country and back again."

Here are all the kids who participated in Showcase. I loved the creativity that went into the costumes and presentations. Everyone did so well. Wax Museum is my favorite.